Tony Pulis brushed off taunts from his old Stoke City fans during his side’s 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns to reflect on his successful record against the Potters.

Stoke fans goaded him and their opposite numbers nearby with chants about Albion’s style of play under Pulis, their own manager in two spells between 2002 and 2013.

“That’s the way the world is,” said Pulis. “That’s not what matters. There’s a person in the stand called Peter Coates and his family respect what I did and they are the people I respect more than anybody else.”

And when asked about Mark Hughes’ comment that it hadn’t been the greatest game early in the piece, Pulis added: “They have got some outstanding players, so I imagine they will be disappointed. It was very hot out there as well and difficult for the players to sustain any tempo.”

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Pulis was also asked about Hughes’s comment over the grass being cut after the game – and maybe not before it – so as to slow up the surface.

Struggling for a reply, he grinned and observed: “Like I say, I'm still unbeaten against them. That's eight, nine games now and would have been another win but for a mistake. “

Baggies boss Tony Pulis make a point during his side's draw with Stoke City at The Hawthorns. (Image: PA Wire)

On the game itself, which saw a mix up between goalkeeper Ben Foster and defender Ahmed Hegazy to gift Peter Crouch a 77-minute equaliser, Pulis observed: “It was disappointing. For all their possession in front, I didn’t think they created many clear-cut chances.

“There was a chance second half (for 2-0), when Jay (Rodriguez) could have played Salamon (Rondon) in. That little bit of quality there and I’m sure Salamon would would have been through one-one one.

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“These things happen,” he said of the equaliser. “They brought Crouchy on and without him doing anything, just his presence un-nerves defenders and that’s what he’s done today.”

Pulis is now unbeaten in his last 13 games against Stoke either side of his management of the club.

“It’s a good record and hopefully it continues. But we are disappointed because I didn’t see them scoring. As soon as we scored, I thought we’d win.”

He was delighted to see Rodriguez open his goalscoring account for the Baggies after nipping between Geoff Cameron and Kurt Zouma to head home Allan Nyom’s right-wing cross.

“Jay does a hell of a lot of good work and he stretches teams because he wants to run in behind,” said Pulis, “but his greatest asset is he gets inside that back post and we hope he’s going to score 10 to 15 goals.”